For Them All
by KatLeePT
Summary: Perdita loves all her puppies, but that doesn't mean they don't drive her crazy.


"89 . . . 90 . . . 91 . . . 92 . . . " The mother's head turns as each puppy runs pass her. Thunder rumbles louder and closer, and Rolly squeals and darts between her legs.

Perdita lowers her head and nuzzles him gently. "It's okay," she reassures him. "We'll all be safe in here." She looks up as lightning streaks across the darkening sky. "93?" she asks. "93?!" But there are no more puppies coming.

She turns so swiftly that she almost steps on her own son's tail. Her gaze quickly encompasses the barn, counting each puppy again and naming them softly underneath her breath. "Lucky!" Her eyes close for a moment. She should've known that pup had others in trouble again! "Lucky!" She looks back outdoors and can barely make out spots frisking about in the falling rain. "LUCKY!" she barks full blast, her urgent cry drowning out the thunder.

"We're coming, Mama!" Lucky yips back. "We're coming!"

He runs with the other seven pups and the crazy chicken following him. He runs, lightning hitting on the ground only a few feet from him. He darts around the scorched spot on the earth and runs harder. Perdita yips the whole time he's running and almost faints when the lightning barely misses her puppies. "LUCKY," she roars, "GET IN HERE NOW!"

Lucky slides into the barn, gravel and grass blades spinning underneath his paws. The others come to a screeching halt just behind him. "Now!" Perdita yips, and the big doors start to swing shut with help from a horse and cow.

Barking causes them all to pause. Perdita looks back out into the growing storm and can barely make out her mate's form as he dashes toward them. "Stop!" she yips. Pongo makes it just before the wind sucks the doors shut.

"Where were you?" Perdita demands, snapping at him. "I thought you were with Roger!"

"I was, sweetheart, but when I heard the storm coming, I ran to check on you and the pups and make sure you're all okay!"

"We are," Perdita snaps again, "but no thanks to you! You have to talk to that Lucky, Pongo. I swear he's just like you! He's so full of adventure he doesn't know what's good for him, and he's getting the others in danger again!"

Pongo nuzzles her furry cheek. "You used to like it when I got us into danger," he remarks, throat rumbling and tail wagging.

"Pongo, we're grown now, and we have so many puppies relying on us! I - " She looks away, barely containing her tears. "I was so scared when we were eight short! I just knew they were going to get caught in the storm and something terrible was going to happen to them!"

Pongo pushes her face gently with his black nose until she's looking at him again. "But they didn't, did they, Perdi?"

"No, but - " She sighs. He's giving her those puppy dog eyes that she just can't fight. She's never been able to fight that look on her beloved mate. "Just talk to him, will you?" she yips. "Before he does get somebody or himself hurt!"

"I will," he promises.

A blast of thunder rattles the barn. Perdita jumps closer to Pongo who embraces her, his neck wrapping gently around hers in a canine hug. "It's okay," he promises, nuzzling her cheek. "Nothing bad is ever going to happen to our puppies again." He knows she remembers the night their puppies were taken from them every time it storms. "I promise. We're always going to be safe now." But, still, a tremble passes through his own spotted coat as the growling thunder reminds him of Cruella's wicked laughter. "I won't let her touch us again," he vows, "ever."

Perdita smiles at him and finally licks him, accepting his words as truth - at least, for now. She knows he means well, but she also knows that he can not stop Cruella. It's always taken all of them to keep their puppies safe from the heartless human. She'd give up on the species, if it wasn't for Anita and Roger.

Thunder roars again, and almost every animal in the barn jumps. "Mama runs herself exhausted, worrying over you," one of the older pups yips disapprovingly at Lucky.

"Yeah."

"Hmph," Two-Tone sniffs indelicately. She cuddles deeper into her boyfriend's shaggy coat. "She runs herself sick worrying now. Wait until we have puppies."

Perdita catches her daughter's words in the silence that follows the thunder. She falls to the hay in the floor, all four paws waving in the air. Some of the puppies laugh, but not all. Some come around her, licking and nuzzling her, while their father jumps over her prone body and barks sharply at Two-Tone and Mooch, successfully seperating them and delaying the inevitable for another night.

"I've so gotta talk to Anita about fix jobs," Perdita whines. The grown males grimace while the puppies wonder what she means.

"We'll be good, Mama," Lucky assures, licking her paw. "We promise."

"I know you will, son," she answers, turning over and nuzzling him. "You'll be good, just like your papa, but that doesn't mean you won't get into trouble." She looks over his rolling body at Pongo. "Just like your papa." Pongo lowers his head, but Perdita smiles. "And it also doesn't mean I'll ever stop loving you and worrying about you. I worry, because I love you. I love you all." Her tail wags and the dogs yip happily in response, drowning out the sounds of the storm and the past that haunts them all.

The End


End file.
